Leinster Gardens in Bayswater, London is a street with a twist, in so much that two of its houses don’t actually exist.

The imposing looking properties at numbers 23 & 24 are false façades, with thin air behind the 5 feet (1.5 m) thick walls – look closely and you’ll see that the windows are in fact just painted on, and the doors have no letter boxes.

The Metropolitan Railway – the world’s first underground railway – began conveying passengers in 1863, with the subterranean lines constructed using a method called ‘cut and cover’.

As the name implies, this involved digging a deep hole to house the underground tracks, and then covering over the tunnel.

The route of the line between Paddington and Bayswater (opened in 1868) necessitated the demolition of 23 and 24 Leinster Gardens, situated on a long, upmarket terrace of five story houses, and it was decided to build a 5ft-thick facade which matched the houses either side of the break.

The ensuing gap behind the facade left a stretch of railway track open to the elements, which proved to be a handy place for passing locomotives to ‘vent’ off.

It may sound rather rude, but venting was an essential means of keeping the underground tunnels clear of smoke and steam.

The original locomotives on the Metropolitan and District Line were powered by steam, and although they were fitted with condensers, engines still needed open air stretches of track to disperse the fumes.

Here’s some more photos taken in March 2012:

Circle trains crossing behind 23 and 24 Leinster Gardens.

The ‘entrance’ to number 23 Leinster Gardens.

Seeing as I’ve had quite a few concerned emails about this, please note that adjacent Henry VIII Hotel now claims the same address and, yes, it really does exist!

From 1948 – 1955 I lived on the 2nd floor of No 26 Leinster Gardens. Nos 25 -29 had been requisitioned by the council after the War to provide accommodation for homeless families, 5 in each house, one on each floor. In 1955 they were returned to owners who were going to turn them into the Hotel. I note that they have made the 2nd and 3rd floors into 3 floors , possible as our ceiling was about 15 foot high..

Hello Valerie, I am Ye Jin Lee from Architectural Association, I just came across your coment and found it facinating that you know a lot of history about this site. I am currently trying to build a proposal on this site and would like to have a chat! please give me an email!aschristinalee@gmail.com is mine